Many schools now require more hours of volunteering

Monday

Dec 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMDec 30, 2008 at 2:31 AM

All do-gooding is not created equal.

The odd canned food drive or an occasional stint serving dinner in a shelter is nothing to turn up your nose at, college admissions officers say. But students increasingly need to show that they'll devote more than an afternoon to a cause.

All do-gooding is not created equal.

Not for college admissions officers, anyway. And not for many high schools that require their students to fulfill community-service requirements before they graduate.

"I'm sure students are being told to pad their resumes or do stuff to get it on their applications for college," said Cass Johnson, director of admissions at Otterbein College in Westerville. "What I advise students is to -- rather than have this huge laundry list -- find a couple of things you are really passionate about."

The odd canned food drive or an occasional stint serving dinner in a shelter is nothing to turn up your nose at, admissions officers say. But students increasingly need to show that they'll devote more than an afternoon to a cause.

"Everybody doesn't have to go to a Third World country and build something to be impressive," said Mabel Freeman, who heads undergraduate admissions and first-year experiences at Ohio State University. But, she said, "It's amazing how many students are pre-med that show nothing in the way of community involvement in terms of volunteering at a hospital."

High schools are looking for ways to get students to find a cause they can stick with.

The Wellington School, a private school in Upper Arlington, used to have designated community-service days on which students were expected to pitch in on a volunteer project.

"We got away from doing that, because it was not mean- ingful to everyone," said Chris Robbins, who is the upper school's dean of students. "We encourage kids to pursue a variety of different service activities, because we want it to be meaningful."

Wellington doesn't require a specific number of volunteer hours. But it does have a teacher who identifies volunteer opportunities and encourages students to lend a hand.

At Columbus School for Girls, a Bexley private school, students are required to serve at least 60 hours before they graduate, and at least 10 hours per year as upper school students. A committee there spent a lot of time hashing out what would be considered "quality" volunteer experiences and what wouldn't.

"We will offer suggestions to students, but students really have to make their own choices about what they do. We will determine if something really does not constitute community service," said Veronica Leahy, who heads the English Department and is co-chairwoman of the service club. "The idea is to expose students to what is out there and hope that they will be inspired to return to some of these places to do further volunteer work."

Several public schools also require students to volunteer to graduate.

New Albany-Plain students need to log 25 hours. Hamilton schools will require students to complete 80 hours by 2010 (this year's grads must complete 60.) Westerville schools encourages all students in grades three through 12 to complete three hours. And lots of districts, including Bexley, make community-service activities part of class projects.

Of course, not all students are pitching in just to pad their resumes. Take Taylor Knore, a freshman at Pickerington North High School. She volunteers in a first-grade classroom at Fairfield Elementary, which is near her home, nearly every day.

Then, when she's done there, she heads down to the school's latchkey program and helps out with homework.

"I love little kids. They're so much fun, they're so cute and a bundle of joy. I love helping out," she said. "I'm sure it'll look good on my college application or something."

Fairfield Principal Ruth Stickel, who used to be the assistant principal at Taylor's middle school, is proud of the 14-year-old's attitude.

"She's only a freshman and she's giving up a lot of her after-school time. A lot of kids wouldn't do that," Stickel said. "She's just doing it because she wants to."

jsmithrichards@dispatch.com

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